Hot Topics:

Local News

Housing for the homeless

Pro 15 housing expo tackles homelessness in eastern Colorado

By Stephanie Alderton

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
03/11/2016 10:30:30 AM MST

Zach Schaffner, right, and Kristin Toombs, of the Governor's Office on the Homeless, speak at the Progressive 15 Housing Expo on Wednesday. They talked about the state's "housing first" priority and some ways it could happen in rural areas like Morgan County. (Stephanie Alderton / Fort Morgan Times)

Click photo to enlarge

Zach Schaffner, right, and Kristin Toombs, of the Governor's Office on the Homeless, speak at the Progressive 15 Housing Expo on Wednesday. They talked about the state's "housing first" priority and some ways it could happen in rural areas like Morgan County.

Operates a warming house during winter on the corner of State Street and Platte Avenue.

Caring Ministries

216 State St., Fort Morgan

970-867-3339

Food Bank of the Rockies

303-371-9250

Delivers to Caring Ministries every 3rd Friday and 4th Thursday.

At the Progressive 15 Housing Expo on Wednesday, several speakers focused on those without houses.

Progressive 15 is a nonpartisan group that represents the political interests of the 15 counties of northeastern Colorado. Like the many other public events they host throughout the year, this one, held at the Country Steak-Out in Fort Morgan, sought to look at a current issue affecting northeastern Colorado—in this case, housing—from a variety of perspectives. The main panels were divided into six categories named after the steps of building a house, and one panel, called "Framing the Walls - Human Connection," dealt with the people in the eastern plains who need housing the most.

Advertisement

The panel was made up of Kirsten Schelling, from Centennial Mental Health, and Zach Schaffner and Kristin Toombs from the Governor's Office on the Homeless. Schaffner cited the latest data on homelessness in the eastern plains, saying the number of people without homes went up last year even as it fell in the Denver area. Toombs laid out their organization's strategy for reducing those numbers, and why their current motto is "housing first." It hasn't always been that way.

"A lot of the services 20 years ago, 30 years ago, were emergency services," she said. "And we need that, obviously...but what we found is that people were languishing in them and living in them. And so we really have a shift to say, 'Let's make that as short and brief as possible and get you into permanent housing.'"

She and Schaffner said providing permanent housing for the homeless makes it easier for them to get jobs and benefit from other community services, like substance abuse treatment.

In rural and small-town communities like Morgan County, the problem of homelessness isn't as obvious as it is in big cities, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. And although small towns like Fort Morgan get their share of transients who are passing through from other counties, Schaffner emphasized that there are also many long-term residents in need of housing.

"Folks are like, 'Those aren't our people,'" he said. "'Those are different folks who move around the state.' We know that homeless people will move around in a geographic area, but...a lot of them will stay in the same area where they were when they became homeless, because they have relationships. So even though they don't have a permanent address, they are your people."

The speakers agreed that providing permanent housing is not easy, but the state is starting to fund several programs to help make it possible. One is the Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement program, which is currently being tested in Denver and Colorado Springs, and which Schaffner hopes will reach rural Colorado soon. It currently focuses on housing veterans, and once success has been proven in that area, its organizers will be able to move on to other homeless groups. Toombs listed a few other programs, such as housing vouchers, rental assistance and family-focused programs.

Schelling provided her perspective on the state of homeless people in northeast Colorado specifically, many of whom have mental health issues and go to Centennial for help. The organization, which has locations in Morgan County and across the eastern plains, has a program to help people recently released from prison find housing, but she said the community's needs are varied.

"We get three to five calls a week from people who are homeless or just needing a place in general," she said. "It's kind of across the board. It's individuals, it's families...it's really kind of a wide gamut."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.